Blackstone Top Bidder for Signature’s $17B Commercial Property Loans

Blackstone is reportedly the lead bidder for Signature Bank’s $17 billion commercial property loans, according to Bloomberg News.

Since taking over Signature in March, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has been attempting to offload that debt. According to the report, the banking regulator is now in final talks to certify Blackstone’s bid as the one with the lowest expenses.

Blackstone is in discussions with Rialto Capital to help service the loans, according to Bloomberg.

The FDIC hired Newmark Group in March to liquidate around $60 billion in Signature Bank loans after state authorities moved to close the insolvent lender earlier this year amid regional bank turbulence.

Signature went bankrupt in March, just two days after Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) went bankrupt and days after Silvergate said it was self-liquidating. Signature was sold to a subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp, though that bank did not purchase all of Signature’s loans.

Meanwhile, the FDIC announced last week that the largest banks will foot the majority of the bill for replenishing the government’s deposit insurance fund. Institutions with assets of $50 billion or more would be required to pay 95% of the fees, while institutions with assets of less than $5 billion would be exempt.  

The government has stated that it hopes to collect $15.8 billion in additional fees over the next two years.